Field Fisher Waterhouse reacts to Colchester General Hospital revelations

06 Nov 2013

Fieldfisher reacts to Colchester General Hospital revelations

Delay in diagnosing cancer is one of the most common causes of clinical negligence claims. It is important that statistics with regards to waiting lists and other key measures are accurate to ensure that patients are receiving the best possible treatment.

The news that staff at Colchester General Hospital have felt bullied and pressurised into falsifying documents to make it seem as though cancer patients were being treated quicker than was actually the case, is worrying. Whether this represents an isolated case or similar practices exist elsewhere in the UK is not yet known and it is hoped that further investigations will now follow.

"The news that has come out overnight from Colchester is shocking. Cancer patients, not just in Colchester but across the UK, will now be questioning the treatment that they have received, and confidence in the NHS, which is already at a low following a number of recent revelations, is likely to be badly affected. Anyone that has any questions or concerns about the treatment they received is advised to contact a solicitor so that they can be advised further."

The medical negligence team at Fieldfisher has extensive experience of dealing with claims relating to delayed cancer diagnoses. The team acted for an elderly lady who was rendered doubly incontinent and lost the use of her legs after a delay in diagnosing her with myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow. The team also recently acted in a case concerning a man whose treatment was delayed for two years following a failure to diagnose a carcinoid tumour of his small bowel, which led to the cancer spreading to his liver, significantly reducing his life expectancy. In both cases we were able to secure six figure compensation awards.